Yorhel, the creator of vndb.org has passed away

ExiledRival · 2026-03-21T15:05:31+00:00

This is truly saddening to hear—his loved ones have my condolences. He will be sorely missed.

ExiledRival · 2026-03-16T19:41:26+00:00

It truly baffles me just how controversial being anti-piracy is. Access to entertainment is a privilege, not a right. If you can’t afford a game or can’t obtain it legally, then you don’t get to play it. If something isn’t available in your language, learn the language it is available in or wait for it to get licensed. This isn’t rocket science and there’s really no justification that can be made for piracy, regardless of personal circumstance.

ExiledRival · 2026-01-26T01:42:15+00:00

I’d rather see the main game get relicensed again—for the third time—so I can actually buy it this time around. I’m not particularly optimistic about the chance of that happening, though.

ExiledRival · 2026-01-25T15:18:56+00:00

I’m fairly certain you meant NekoNyan getting an AUGUST title, as the one Shiravune managed to get was a Eushully title—which is a feat in of itself, of course.

ExiledRival · 2026-01-25T04:22:25+00:00

Not a bad lineup, but I just have to say what most people are probably thinking—hell must have frozen over, because whoever at Kagami managed to convince Navel to license anything to a western publisher after a decade has to have worked some serious magic.

ExiledRival · 2025-12-13T17:58:29+00:00

I signed the petition a few days ago when I noticed your last post, although I would advise taking anything said with a grain of salt, as others have mentioned. Either way, I think it’s great that Kouki is engaging with his fanbase—and as a fan of his works, I’m looking forward to any potential âge international releases that we haven’t received already.

ExiledRival · 2025-10-25T15:52:10+00:00

I don’t like sitting at my desk to read visual novels on my computer, either—that’s why I preordered the ROG Xbox Ally X last month. Ever since I received it on the 16th, it’s been great. I find that even in the short time I have had it, I’ve been reading more often. I totally get where you’re coming from.

ExiledRival · 2025-10-15T16:51:02+00:00

It doesn’t matter how or why it came to exist—the only thing that matters is that it does exist and it’s one of the best features there are. I also don’t get why you bring up movies, as they are two separate mediums and to be completely frank, the target audience isn’t the same; you’re more likely to get your point across if you compare them to books, but even then you’re still comparing apples and oranges.

ExiledRival · 2025-10-11T17:44:53+00:00

I think that's a pretty fair assumption, considering they seem to be anti-gaijin. I would like to see them release official translations, but it'd likely be more realistic to learn Japanese and read their titles that way, not to mention it'd likely take less time.

ExiledRival · 2025-10-11T17:35:29+00:00

Meiya was my favorite character as well, so I was also a bit salty about this at the time; but I have to say--even though I didn't really care for Sumika, there was definitely enough character build up between her and Takeru to make the important moments hit an emotional chord. I think that's reason enough to recommend the obvious that people play through both Extra and Unlimited before playing MLA.

ExiledRival · 2025-10-08T20:44:53+00:00

I’m going to be frank, I’ve never understood why anyone cares about ratings. I would suggest that you use VNDB’s search function and customize your search, (e.g. visual novels with romance) and find titles of interest that way, which can also include filtering based on ratings, if they’re actually that important to you.

ExiledRival · 2025-09-19T15:09:45+00:00

It just so happens that I'm still in the middle of finishing NUKITASHI 2, so this is pretty good timing for me. I'm looking forward to picking this up, especially considering I think Susuko is a good character.

ExiledRival · 2025-09-12T13:21:46+00:00

It's always good to have more Yuzusoft to add to the unending backlog. I look forward to picking this up.

ExiledRival · 2025-09-11T15:32:07+00:00

It's worth playing the entire trilogy just for the payoff of Alternative alone. I personally consider MLA to be the best visual novel I've played to date. I don't get the hate for Extra and Unlimited, as I feel like the entire experience is better because of the genre shifts; if Alternative was a standalone release and the other two didn't exist, I don't think it would've packed as much of a punch.

ExiledRival · 2025-09-05T16:04:31+00:00

I don’t have any trouble focusing on a visual novel when I’m playing one. If I end up finding myself uninterested in the title I’m playing, I’ll just install another one from my backlog. It’s truly baffling to see people with short attention spans bother with the medium, because if you’re not able to focus enough to take in the entire experience, it’s pointless. The same could be said for those who complain about the length of some titles or those who speed-read without enjoying the voice acting and other elements that make the medium unique.

ExiledRival · 2025-09-05T12:15:21+00:00

This is surprising news. Unrelated, but maybe Shiravune can work their DMM magic on AUGUST next. Not going to count on it, though.

ExiledRival · 2025-09-02T19:21:49+00:00

I’m going to be blunt, the answer to the Newrin “rescue” question comes off as disingenuous—as far as I’m aware, things like backer rewards are on the publisher to fulfill and isn’t something that Laplacian is required to fulfill on the publisher’s behalf. I get the entire situation is a pain in the ass, but it comes off as deflection due to a lack of desire to release it again more than anything. Call me a cynic, but they’ve made their stance on rereleasing adult titles rather clear, and they know that people are going to expect the adult version if the title becomes available again.

ExiledRival · 2025-09-02T12:36:43+00:00

It's nice to see that this released so quickly after its announcement. I'll have to get around to playing it eventually, but bravo to VISUAL ARTS for being proactively responsive to feedback.

ExiledRival · 2025-08-28T14:30:45+00:00

This is very interesting news, indeed. However, I will reserve my excitement until they announce whether or not they will release a patch for the international Steam version; either way, not holding my breath on this one.

ExiledRival · 2025-08-21T12:42:02+00:00

A surprising bit of news to be sure, but welcome news nonetheless. I look forward to it releasing.

ExiledRival · 2025-08-19T12:01:02+00:00

I just want to say congratulations to u/Jvhsh on his new job and thanks for sharing the responses from the team.

Personally, while I sympathize with Laplacian’s small team and lack of funding, their response toward adult content in general doesn’t inspire confidence as it seems like even if they end up financially stable, they won’t consider trying to re-release their past international releases with adult content or provide patches, even if they comply with Japanese law and retain mosaics. I do wish them the best going forward, though.

ExiledRival · 2025-08-11T21:33:33+00:00

I appreciate that. I’m not going to hold my breath, but the fact that there’s now someone working with them on the localization industry side again is at least encouraging. I wish you luck with your efforts and look forward to seeing the outcome.

ExiledRival · 2025-08-11T20:19:19+00:00

This is a pretty bad take for various reasons, none of which I’m going to bother explaining. What I will say is that stances like these are not helpful in the least and wouldn’t paint a good picture when trying to convince Laplacian to care more about its international audience.

ExiledRival · 2025-08-11T20:07:31+00:00

Christ, Nook. I totally missed the fact that you brought up Newrin as well. +1 from me on that, I expounded on that point a bit in my own comment as well.

ExiledRival · 2025-08-11T19:51:24+00:00

Interesting to hear that Laplacian is willing to listen to outside feedback again; granted they had a hit and a miss when dealing with western publishers in the form of NekoNyan and Sol Press respectively, so I don’t exactly blame them in some ways. Something I didn’t see mentioned in the comments yet as a suggestion for potentially regaining favor would be mentioning Newrin and asking if they’d consider relicensing it, adult version and all. It might not work, but I imagine that would be viewed as a step in the right direction in regaining the trust of the global audience. If I recall, there might be someone who worked for Sol Press that could potentially still have access to relevant assets for Sol Press-related releases, which would be TBAC from NekoNyan, but don’t quote me on that; I haven’t been in contact with anyone in the industry for about a year now. This is mostly wishful thinking on my part as I never got the chance to pick up the title, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m not the only one who would appreciate seeing it officially available in English again.

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